


en(light)ened

by mushmin



Category: The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D (2005)
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:07:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26416909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mushmin/pseuds/mushmin
Summary: please read this i need validation no matter how dumb the things I write are.
Relationships: Marissa/Lavagirl, Max/Linus
Comments: 8
Kudos: 37





	en(light)ened

It's easy to feel alone when you're only real companion is...Sharkboy.

No hate to Sharkboy, of course. He was nice when he wanted to be and comforting enough when he wasn't busy searching for his father all the time...

Not that she grudged him that. If she had someone to look for, she would too. But she was born from lava, and she knows, one day, she'll return to it. She just wishes she knew what would happen in between--who she would _be._ The closest she got were Max's weekly dreams, when she would come in and see what he thought. 

Today, she caught him caught in an intense game of trivia with Tobor. He had a tattoo now...which she thought was a little weird, but she supposes it has been 8 years. They're all adults now (not that Sharkboy acted like it...), and she did appreciate the design, fire and water, side by side on his wrist, peeking out from the sleeve of his hoodie. 

"Capital of Belarus?" She heard Max ask. 

"Minsk." he responded, nonchalantly clenching and unclenching his metal hand as if to warm it up. 

Max looked up and smiled as he saw her approaching, then teasingly asked Tobor, "What is Lavagirl?"

"Light." He responded, still looking bored out of his mind. 

Lavagirl laughed and leaned in to give Max a hug. He seemed to hesitate a little, and she had to remind him that she could completely control her temperature now--one of the perks of finally being an adult, she supposed. 

"I like your tattoo, Max! Becoming a bad boy I see..." she said with a sly smile. 

He rolled his eyes. "Ah yes...because getting a tattoo of my three imaginary friends from when I was 10 is SO bad of me." 

Wait...three? She thought it was only two? 

"What do you mean three? It's just me and Sharky!" she said. 

Max smiled and pulled up his sleeve a little. "Sorry," he said. "But I actually DO have other friends." 

She grabbed Max's wrist and pulled it closer to her. Right above the fire and water, forming a triangle on Max's wrist, was a snowflake, and suddenly Lavagirl's predicamentcame rushing back. The castle, the crystal heart...the ice princess. 

"Ow!" Max said, pulling his arm away. There was a ring of red right below the tattoo. "I thought you said you could control the lava!"

"I can! I just...was shocked." she said, feeling both sorry and defensive. It was _Max's_ fault, really. Why would he bring up Marissa all of a sudden? He _knew_ they didn't get along. And she really didn't like the way Max looked at her, like she was the most beautiful person he'd ever seen. She didn't like that part at all. 

Not because she wanted to be the only person to look at Marissa that way. Certainly not because of that. At least, that's what she's been telling herself. God, why couldn't things be simple? Why couldn't she be in love with Sharkboy the way she was clearly meant to? Why was she so _obsessed_ with her true identity? 

She huffed and sat down annoyedly. Max stared at her for a moment, and then sat next to her gently. 

"Hey...it's okay. Marissa freezes me by accident all the time, and Sharkboy probably is the source of all my nightmares...which is really way worse than anything you could do." Max said, placing his hand next to hers. She knew it must be incredibly hot...she was still steaming, but she was thankful for the comfort. 

"I'm sorry, Max," she sighed. "It isn't about that. I've just been thinking about some stuff and your tattoo just reminded me of it..." 

There was a pregnant pause in conversation. 

"Do" Max's voice broke, and he cleared his throat before continuing. "Do you want to take about it?"

Lavagirl cracked a weak smile. "You sure you want me to unload on you?" 

Max returned her smile. "Considering most of your issues exist because of my emotional baggage, I think I can handle a little bit of yours." 

"Fair point." she said. "You kinda _do_ deserve this." 

She paused, trying to orient her thoughts. 

"You remember when I was really struggling with who I was? And I kept asking you to tell me my true identity?" she asked. 

"Yep! Thank god you figured that one out, that's a lot of pressure on a 9-year old, you know that?" Max said. 

"Well..." she said, voice high. "That never actually...stopped. And I think the bigger question might have risen when we went to the ice castle." 

Max knit his eyebrows together. "The ice castle? You mean when you froze?" 

Lavagirl swallowed. "No...I mean when we saw Marissa as the ice princess." 

"Oh?" Max said. "What was wrong with that? Do you still have issues with her?" 

"Uh...no." Lavagirl said. "I actually...thinkIhaveacrushonher?" 

Max made a weird choking noise in his throat. "You too?" 

Lavagirl felt her hair alight again. "Me too? You like her too?" 

"No!" Max scrambled away. "Jeez, you need to work on that! I mean...you're gay too?" 

Lavagirl looked at him pointedly. " _You're_ gay? Why didn't you tell me?" 

"Probably for the same reason you didn't tell _me._ Besides...it's not like I have a chance with Linus anyway." Max mumbled, trailing off at the end. 

Lavagirl stared at him. " _Linus?_ Max you can do so much better than fucking MINUS." 

Max huffed. "You haven't even spoken to him! He's different now...he draws for comic books and we've actually been working on something together..." 

Lavagirl side-eyed him. "If you say so...at least you're interacting with Linus I guess. I only see Marissa in passing...our kingdoms don't exactly intersect." 

"But the ocean overlaps so much with her kingdom! You should talk to Sharky about this, I know he and Marissa hang out from time to time." 

Lavagirl felt herself heating up again and was getting a little annoyed with how little control she seemed to have. "Do you think he likes her?" 

Max cackled...yes, actually cackled. She was a little scared too. " _Sharkboy?_ Like the king of the ocean one? He's never had a romantic emotion in his life."

Lavagirl blushed. "Oh...I guess I must've missed that."

Max put an arm around her shoulder. He was taller than her now, though not by much. "It's okay," he laughed. "You've been busy. But you've gotta stop being so broody, just talk to us! We could've talked this out _years_ ago." 

She smiled. "Yeah...I was just scared, I think."

"You never have to be afraid of telling me or Sharkboy anything, okay? We're your best friends. I know Sharky can be...a little aggressive...and I might not be the _most_ available, but we love you unconditionally and we're always going to be here for you. Tobor was right," Finally, Tobor opened his eyes again, blinking around to see why he was mentioned. "You are light. Don't ever feel like anything you do is dark or bad. How can light be bad?" Max said, giving her a hug. 

Lavagirl tightened her arms around him. Maybe she didn't know exactly who she was yet, but they were all figuring it out. And at least she had her best friends by her side while she grew. 


End file.
